1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disposable medical apparatus wherein a once-utilized device is discarded without being reused.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a medical device in conventional examples, there is a disposable medical device that is discarded without being reused when it is utilized once. As this disposable medical device, there is, e.g., a disposable endoscopic system disclosed in, e.g., JP-A 2007-050108 (KOKAI) (Patent Document 1). The disposable endoscope as a disposable medical device (which will be referred to as a disposable endoscope hereinafter) has a merit that it can be readily utilized for infected persons and others since it is disposable. However, the once-utilized disposable endoscope is reused if whether it has been used cannot be easily recognized, and using the disposable endoscope under unexpected circumstances can be anticipated.
Thus, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a memory that stores a used state is provided in the disposable endoscope. When a processor confirms contents in the memory upon connecting the disposable endoscope to the processor, an unused state or a used state is detected. Further, data concerning a use status is read from the memory to determine whether the disposable endoscope has been utilized. When it is determined that the disposable endoscope has been utilized, outputting a picture signal is stopped so that the picture signal cannot be input to a monitor and a message indicating that the disposable endoscope has been utilized is displayed in the monitor. As a result, the utilized disposable endoscope can be prevented from being erroneously reused.
In the apparatus having the above-described configuration, an operating state of the endoscope is detected and, if a state that the endoscope has been operated is detected, this operating state is stored in the memory. Furthermore, when the processor confirms contents in the memory upon connecting the disposable endoscope to the processor, whether the disposable endoscope has been utilized is detected. Therefore, for example, when the disposable endoscope is irradiated with illumination light from a light source in a state where the disposable endoscope is connected with a light source device, the memory stores a state that the disposable endoscope has been utilized.
Usually, it is general to confirm an operation of the endoscope before it is actually used for a patient. A use preparatory work, e.g., confirming an operation of the endoscope is carried out at a bright place outside a human body. At the bright place, the light source usually outputs illumination light having a maximum light quantity.
On the other hand, when the endoscope is put into a human body, a surrounding area of an observation optical system becomes dark. At a dark place like this example, the light source automatically starts light control to reduce a light quantity. That is, at the time of ordinary use that the endoscope is utilized while being inserted in a lumen of a human body, a light quantity of illumination light emitted from the light source is controlled to a light quantity that is suitable for observing the inside of the lumen, for example. This can be also applied to the use of the disposable endoscope.